title: An eight-month evaluation of prehospital 12-lead electrocardiogram monitoring in Baltimore County.
abstract: The purpose of this evaluation was to determine if a prehospital 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) led to a delay in transportation when compared to non-12-lead ECG, and if it led to improved "door to drug" time. A quasi-experimental design was used to compare on-scene times for suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients; a comparison was made between advanced life support (ALS) units without 12-lead ECG and those who were augmented by equipped EMS district officer units. Our control group had an on-scene time of 22.05 minutes; the mean on-scene time for the experimental group was 21.85 minutes. The results of this study indicated that 12-lead ECG acquisition by district officers did not extend the on-scene time.
authors.affiliation: Baltimore County Fire Department, USA.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D004562:Electrocardiography; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008396:Maryland; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy; D013997:Time Factors; D014187:Transportation of Patients